1. Technical Field of the Invention
The preferred embodiment relates generally to a self-locking, universal trailer hitch and method of use, and more specifically to a universal trailer hitch comprising a removable bar that replaces a standard hitch ball and a receiving device for the bar that can alternately be directly secured to a trailer or which can utilize an adapter for securing to an existing hitch on a trailer.
2. Description of Related Art
The most common hitch employed for securing a trailer to a towing vehicle utilizes a trailer ball mounted on the rear of a towing vehicle releasably coupled to a trailer ball socket housing typically mounted on the trailer tongue. When the trailer is small and of light weight, the job of coupling the trailer to the towing vehicle is easily accomplished simply by moving the trailer to the vehicle. However, when a trailer is itself extremely heavy, and particularly when it is carrying a heavy load, such as a heavy boat or camper, it is normally not practical to attempt to pull the trailer to the towing vehicle for the purposes of coupling the trailer to the vehicle. Therefore, with heavy trailer equipment, the common practice is to support the tongue with an adjustable jack and maneuver the vehicle until the ball and trailer couple are aligned and suitably positioned for engagement.
Unfortunately, maneuvering a tow vehicle is a difficult task and reaching alignment of the tow vehicle hitch ball with the trailer hitch is complex, particularly for those who are inexperienced. Due to the weight of the trailer, such cannot readily be lifted and maneuvered so that its hitch is positioned over the tow vehicle hitch ball to form the coupling operation.
A common practice for aligning a towing vehicle with a detached trailer is for one person to monitor the progress of the vehicle towards the trailer while another person operates the towing vehicle. Another practice has been to attach some type of elevated visible marker to the trailer at the location of the trailer ball to assist the driver of the towing vehicle in aligning the vehicle with the trailer, and, once aligned, the driver alone completes the coupling. Appropriately positioned auxiliary mirrors have also been employed.
While it is possible for the vehicle driver to carry out this process alone, engagement under these circumstances is difficult since the vehicle driver is normally required to alternate his/her progress towards the trailer with getting out of his/her tow vehicle to observe how well aligned his/her tow vehicle is with the trailer. It would therefore be desirable to provide a trailer hitch which would enable the driver of the towing vehicle to bring his/her tow vehicle and the trailer into coupling alignment and also to automatically couple and lock the towing vehicle with the trailer, once so aligned.
Various attempts have been made in the past to provide an automatic trailer hitch. One device teaches an automatic trailer hitch having a mountable receiving unit and a separate shank unit. The funnel-shaped receiving unit is mounted on the rear of a towing vehicle, while the shank unit, which supplies the elongated member, is readily removably attached to the ball socket housing of a trailer. While such a device allows utilization of existing trailer hitches, it offers only limited alignment during the attachment process.
Another previous device teaches a swiveling trailer hitch guide. The guide is designed for mounting onto a vehicle bumper having a hitch ball structure. The trailer tongue is forcibly centered over the top of the hitch ball structure during the attachment process. While this device makes the alignment process easier, such a device does not modify the attachment properties of the standard tongue and ball hitch apparatus.
Other devices provide guide rails to direct the trailer hitch toward and onto an existing hitch ball, and while providing some guidance, do not permit approaching the trailer with a tow vehicle from an angle other than directly aligned.
Therefore, it is readily apparent that there is a need for a self-locking, universal trailer hitch that is easy to utilize during the attachment process, facilitates alignment, optionally allows an angled approach, and may also removably secured to a standard trailer hitch receiver.